Virginia Duals notebook: Apprentice shocks UCF 27-21

Jim McGrath, CORRESPONDENT

The Apprentice School team, aiming for a third-place finish in the American College Division, opened up Saturday's consolation round against Central Florida. In an upset, the Builders toppled the Division I Knights 27-21.

Apprentice gave up the first two matches to forfeit, immediately spotting the Knights a 12-0 margin. But Marcus Chevres got the Builders going with a pin on Ashton Griffin at the 3:52 mark. Kyle Spruill followed with a 5-2 decision over Matthew Vaughn. The teams exchanged decisions, but a fall by UCF's Nic Lagriola over Montrell Barbine put Apprentice down 21-12 with three matches to go.

The Apprentice team dug in. Justin Martz won a crucial 6-2 decision over the Knights' Brett Simonelli, closing the score at 21-15. Then Stuart Roes (197) and Ian Jones (Hwt.) put the blocks to Central Florida, scoring successive falls that earned the Builders 12 points and the victory.

ODU aims for best Duals finish

Looking to earn a trip to their first Duals final in 26 appearances, the Old Dominion wrestlers opened Saturday with a semifinal matchup against Kent State in the semifinals of the National College Division. A victory over the No. 21 team in the NCAA would be another stepping stone for the Monarch program, but after Friday's 29-9 win over No. 26 Rutgers, it was certainly within the sights of coach Steve Martin's squad.

But the Golden Flashes provided the early sparks, winning the first four matches while jumping out to an early 13-0 lead. ODU's John Nicholson finally got the team on the board with a decision win over Mallie Shuster at the 157-pound class. Tristan Warner followed at 165 with a 13-3 major decision win over Ross Tice, closing the lead to 13-7. Te Edwards riled up the partisan crowd at Hampton Coliseum in 1:17 into his 174-pound match when he pinned Brandon Johnson, tying the match at 13. Billy Curling lost by major decision at 184, but at 197, Joe Budi eked out a narrow 1-0 win over Ryan Buckner to set the score at 17-16, Kent State. This left 285-pound Matt Tourdot to decide the outcome in a winner-take-all contest against Brendan Barlow. Tourdot got into early trouble, falling victim to a takedown with additional back points, a five point move.

The heavyweight struggled back, and earned a point in the second period. A Barlow takedown with 25 seconds remaining gave him an 8-1 margin. Barlow added one more point and sealed the 21-16 win for the Flashes, keeping ODU out of the finals once again.

In their third-place match, the Monarchs faced Edinboro (Pa.). With a win, the Monarchs would match their best Duals finish with third place.

Overtime and more overtime

The other semifinal between No. 9 Missouri and Edinboro had a dramatic ending. Tied at 16, the match was to be decided by the heavyweight result. However, that match ended in a tie, setting up wrestling's version of overtime.

The wrestlers competed in a one-minute overtime period. After the first overtime, the score was still tied, setting up the second option. Each wrestler takes turns assuming the referee position, and 30 seconds are set on the clock. The winner is decided by the "riding time," in other words, how long the wrestler on top can keep the wrestler on bottom from escaping. The teams remained even until the second tiebreaker period, which Missouri won based on an advantage in riding time.

Don't forget the Flames

Liberty, Virginia's third college entry, advanced to the semifinals of the American College Division with a victory over Anderson (21-19). A 25-15 loss to Nassau put the team in the same bracket as Apprentice setting up the potential for an intriguing matchup. With a 32-11 win over St. Andrew's, the stage was set for Apprentice and Liberty for third place, which Liberty won 30-15.